As of today, February 28, the Tuesday Count crawled up by two more ballot measures. We are now up to 68 proposals. A new state has also jumped into the mix as momentum is picking up for ballot question certifications.

The road was bumpy for organizers of the effort, as the initiative was filed eight different times with the Colorado Attorney General around the date of May 20, 2011, hoping for circulation approval of one of them. The proposal was filed multiple times, with some differences, in order increase the chances of passing the Title Setting Review Board, and allowing for circulation of petitions.

Supporters submitted more than 155,000 signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State's office on January 4, but on February 3, the Colorado Secretary of State announced that the initiative effort had fallen short about 2,500 signatures. Sponsors then had until February 15 to submit the additional signatures required to make the ballot. Petitions with the additional signatures were then turned in around that date.

When you take the governor out of [the parole] process [for non-violent crimes] the people of Oklahoma have no one to hold accountable...[1]

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Sponsors of the initiative needed to collect 504,760 signatures by November 13, 2011 to qualify the measure for the ballot. Its supporters turned in 710,924 signatures in 57 of California's 58 counties by the deadline.

In other state legislature-related ballot measure news, Nebraska and South Carolina lawmakers saw ballot proposals introduced recently about term limits for state legislators. However, one state proposal deals with expanding term limits, while two others are about shrinking them.

Quick hits

Lawsuit filed against Nevada mining tax cap amendment: The Nevada Mining Association filed a lawsuit in state court in Carson City during late-February 2012, attempting to block the measure from the ballot. The association stated that the Mining Tax Cap Amendment was misleading and failed to describe the consequences to Nevada's overall tax structure if enacted by voters.[2]

New poll shows Ohio voters in favor of election law referendum: A poll was released by Lake Research Partners showing a slight opposition to the election law targeted by a veto referendum. It was concluded that 54% of respondents were opposed to the law, therefore favored repealing it. The margin of error of the poll was +/- 3.7 percentage points.[3]

Bill legalizing gay marriage in Maryland to be signed this week: After the bill's passage last week in the Maryland State Senate it was sent to Governor Martin O'Malley, who has vowed to sign it. The legislation is scheduled to be signed by the governor on Thursday, March 1. A day after the senate approved the bill, opponents began the petition process to get a veto referendum on this year's ballot.[4]

SPOTLIGHT:Ohio voters to decide on taxes, electrical aggregation and more
On March 6 residents in Ohio will have their chance to head to the polls to decide on a wide variety of local issues. Nearly all 88 counties in Ohio will have issues to be decided, from school bonds and taxes to city income taxes and electrical aggregation questions. Several school districts are asking for tax renewals or bond approvals, including the Parma & Strongville school districts, which are asking for renewals of their local property taxes and the Wyoming and Ridgemont school districts that are asking for bond money to help with renovating and adding on to school facilities. Counties are also asking for continued levies for Senior and Health programs, including in Clinton County where both a Senior and Health levy are up for renewal which would cost residents $0.65 per $1.00 of assessed value combined for an additional five years. These levies help continue county services for those who are unable to afford the services on their own, according to reports.

The Texas primary was originally delayed from March 6 to April 3, but with that date now looking highly unlikely, party officials are discussing dates in what month? Click here to find out!

BALLOT LAW UPDATE

Georgia signer ID requirement: Last Wednesday, a Georgia bill (SB 377(timed out)) died in committee. The bill would have required citizens to show a state-issued ID upon signing a candidate petition. Georgia does not have statewide initiative and referendum.[5]

Walker to let recall count stand: After unsuccessfully seeking a second extension to the signature review period, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) has announced that he will not challenge the recall signatures filed against him. Walker contends that the first, 20-day extension did not provide his team enough time to review the signatures. Wisconsin does not have a central voter registration database. More than 1 million signatures were submitted.[6]

However, Walker's legal team won a victory in early January that forced the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board to examine recall signatures more thoroughly.[7] In a press release, Walker's campaign expressed confidence that this ruling would guide the GAB in verifying the signatures.